E34s are rare sight these days?

[ross1]

A green 535 was in front of me yesterday on the highway and it occurred to me that I haven't seen another one on the road for ages, the last one I recall being an ///M, on the same highway coincidentally.
Do you see other E34s in your area?
E38/9s seem to be the "beater" cars nowadays, I seldom see older.
Is anybody running "antique" license plates yet?

[Red Shirt KRT]

I see them very rarely as well. The one I saw a few weeks ago was the one I sold to someone

[Smoky540i]

Yeah, there's a red 535i near me that I see around somewhat frequently, but beyond that it's rare in my area of SW Michigan

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[Tre0Tre34]

California seems to be the last vestige for the e34.

I almost never see them locally anymore, but everytime im in CA, i always see a handful.

[Jackson42]

Here in Southern California, where rust is a rarity, E34s are still a common sight - I'll see a few on the road on any given day. Of course, most of them are "cooking variety" - 525s with automatics, but I still see the occasional 535, 530, or 540. It does put a smile on my face to see a Touring from time to time. We do our part to keep the E34s visible around our house - we run an M5 and my daughter's daily ride is a 535/manual lovingly known as "Da Bomb".

[OGM3]

What cracks me up is when they are referred to as classics. I guess they are well over 20 years old.

[racee78]

I live in SoCal and don't see them that often, although I stumbled upon one at Starbucks on Thursday - a nice clean grey 535 which I didn't get to snap a pic of but it was cool to see a 535 vs the standard 525's I see most often.


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[Mykk]

In Arizona I see them occasionally, but they are usually very beat up & neglected. E30's are a plenty and usually well restored.

[XAlt]

I've seen 1 E32 in all my 3 years of driving, a bronze 750iL doing 100 down I55 every time I see it.

[ross1]

a bronze 750iL doing 100 down I55 every time I see it.

Just loafing along then

[XAlt]

Just loafing along then

I see maybe 10 E34s, mostly 535s and 25s, much better car to beat the crap out of than an E39.

For 99% of the people in the market for an old German car, the W124 and 126 is the better choice. Couches on wheels, but reliability and build quality speaks a lot. You already know how many of them there are around.

[chislern]

Don't see many in Southeast Michigan but I always smile when I look in my garage! I'm the original owner of a 1995 525i 5 speed!!

[zubbie]

I don't ever see another E34. A few E30s and the occasional E39/38 but no E34s. I get a few odd stares though as a result.

[atl530i]

I don't see many around the metro Atlanta area anymore. Usually when one does pass by, it's beat to hell and not well maintained. The nicer E34's around now are enthusiast owned and even some of those are beat to hell lol.

[youngbimmer]

I've seen 3 E34s in my area and 1 E32 735iL, funny thing is the E34 has a tag of "BMWBOAT", guess the owner never heard of the E32.....

But overall, I'm seeing less and less.

[imola38]

As Atl530 said, they are a rare sight in the ATL area. For whatever reason, when I do see one it seems to always be Oxford Green/beige 525i. I've seen probably 3 of them, and they didn't appear enthusiast owned in the least as they were in various stages of ragged condition.

The M60 cars seem to have all but disappeared save for mine and the forum goers. I think the higher maintenance kills them off faster than the 6 cyl versions.

It's a shame that they are so few and far between. I don't get to see my car going down the road as I'm the only driver, but that front fascia, especially when cornering hard, brings me back to my childhood and the old BMW adverts.

Ben

[XAlt]

Running and driving is always better than parted out

[racee78]

I think a pretty cool thing is that when I drive my touring I get thumbs up!


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[jimmyz66]

I see them in the Bay Area regularly, but not the very clean ones. Interestingly, my car gets the thumbs up from mostly young, or E36 M3 guys.

[GregT53]

I've seen about five others around town, including a 1991 M5. That makes seven E34s total, with two being M5s; there may be more. A university town is a good place to find 20+ year old vehicles.

I'm considering going the antique tag route because I'll get an exemption from annual state inspections. I cringe every year when I have to place my nicely preserved, low miles M5 in the hands of an inspector who usually has to be educated on the jack points. Then there is attacking the wheels with a pneumatic ratchet wrench to make sure the lug bolts are over and unevenly torqued.

[kouks]

There are a few I see in SoCal every so often, but they are rare, more so than the e38, which is also becoming a rare sight. I think I've seen one other Calypso in the last few years.

I think the classic tag in CA is 25 yrs, so almost there.

I am a little concerned that after I paint it all the idiots here in SoCal in their riceburners with lawn mower engines will want to race my daughter, not that the M50 has any power, but the external look of the car can be deceiving.

[Smith Jason]

Aside from mine I see a 530i sedan regularly. i also see a few E30's about town occasionally. I am not 100% sure but I would bet there are less than 6 E34 M5's in Manitoba. I know mine, John G has a couple and for sure two more.

[B320i]

You still see the odd ones around Perth, Australia. Actually, there's a E24 5-series just near the CBD (in good condition, with an LPG conversion) I was driving past weekly for almost a year!

Suffice it to say, though, most cars from that era are mostly gone. I think I see more of the E32 and E34 BMWs than I do GM-Holden or Fords of that era, while cheap to fix, the domestics don't hold their value and are notoriously heavy on fuel. BMWs are far more frugal, and held their resale value longer, explaining their numbers on the roads.
E36s are more at the "second car" stage of their lives, but getting close to the point where most normal folk wouldn't daily drive them anymore.

Actually, I think the car I see the most of on the roads is the Volvo 240 & 740!

[staystackin]

lol I see tons of junky e34s in New York. a handful of nice ones here and there too.

[The Chauffeur]

I live in Hipsterboro, so what you always see are the "suddenly cool" cars like Volvo 240's and SAAB 900's (but then again, those ones can survive nuclear fallout); I've seen just a couple of E34's and E32's around. It's a great advantage at a full parking lot, when you can discern your car from the rest of silver, boring-looking lumps ; only adult stares I get are because of the crappy paint, I bet , but kids loooove it... They must see it as such a weird, low, wedge-shaped spaceship compared to everything else they see on the road...